Apparatus for driving pins in bedposts



Feb. 9, 1943. E, E- HUBBARD 2,310,638

APPARATUS FOR DRIVING PINS .[N BED POSTS Filed May 13, 1941 4 Sheets-Sheet l 1 Ll u --.u

Snventor.' 4./LBE/T HUBER@ Gttorucg 5 Feb. 9, 1943. E. B. HUBBARD APPARATUS FOR DRIVING PINS 1N BED POSTS 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 13, 1941 Suventor; ELBERT Humeo Gttorncgs Feb. 9, 1943. E. B. HUBBARD APPARATUS FOR vDRIVING PINS IN BED POSTS Filed May 13, 1941 4' sheets-:sheet 3 nventor:

ELBERT B. Hunm BY aM/M (ttomeg S Feb. 9, 1943.

v APPARATUS FOR DRIVING PINS IN BED POSTS lla. B. HUBBARD Filed May 13, 1941 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Bnvcntor:

Patented Feb. 9, 1943 geraete APPARATUS FOR. DRIVING FINS IN BEDPOS'IS Elbert B. Hubbard, Sumter, S. C., assignor to Williams Furniture Corporation, Sumter, S. C., a corporation of South Carolina Application May 13, 1941, Serial No. 393,223

5 Claims.

This invention relates to furniture manufacture and more especially to an apparatus for driving headless pins or nails into bed posts so that the bed side rails can be removably attached thereto. In the manufacture of bed posts, a longitudinal gap or slit is usually sawed in each post substantially at the elevation where the side rail is to be attached. Then suitable holes are bored transversely of the gap, and in each of these holes a pin which is slightly larger than the hole is inserted to a positiion where it will abridge the gap. Each end of the bed side rail has a plate member extending therefrom, which is adapted to be inserted in the gap. Also the plate member is provided with suitable hooks or notches which removably t over the inserted pins when the plate member is inserted in the gap to connect the side rail to the post.

Heretofore, much dificulty has been encountered in quickly and accurately inserting the pins in the posts. Since the pins are headless it has been necessary to manually position the pins in the proper order prior to driving the same into the posts. The headless pins are unalined in containers after manufacture, that is, packed in unstraightened position. In order to use these pins in the present mechanism, it is necessary to assemble them so that one or more pins at a time may be automatically withdrawn from the assembly and driven into the bed post.

It is therefore, an object of this invention to pro-vide a machine of the character described having means for gathering unalined headless pins and arranging them into straightened assemblies, in combination with a mechanism for withdrawing one pin at a time for each assembly and driving the same into a post.

Some of the objects of the invention having been stated, other objects will appear as the description proceeds, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which Figure l is a side elevation of my improved lock pin feeding and driving machine;

Figure 2 is a sectional plan View taken along the line 2 2 in Figure l;

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional detail View taken along the line 3 3 in Figure 2;

Figure 4 is an elevation looking at the lefthand side of Figures 2 and 5;

Figure 5 is an elevation looking at the lefthand side of Figure 1;

Figure 6 is a sectional plan View through the pin receptacle and taken along the line E E in Figure l;

Figure 7 is a transverse vertical sectional view taken along the line 'I I in Figures 1 and 6;

Figure 8 is a longitudinal vertical sectional View taken along the line 8 8 in Figure 6;

Figure 8A is an enlarged detail of a portion of Figure 8 showing the receptacle in a tilted position;

Figure 9 is an isometric detail View showing the lower portion of a pin chute, together with a pin feeding roller and a driving means for the pin;

Figure 10 is an exploded isometric view showing a bed post, a side rail and a pair of lock pins prior to being inserted in the post;

Figure 11 is a sectional detail View showing the post, side rail and lock pins in an assembled position- Referring more specifically to the drawings, the numeral IU denotes the framework of my improved pin feeding and driving apparatus. The upper portion of the framework (Figures 1 and 5) has a stationary mortised support II in which a tenon slide I2 is adapted to fit. This tenon slide is moved back and forth in the support II by means of a suitable hand wheel E3, Which wheel is Xedly secured upon one end of a rod It. The rod I4 has its intermediate portion rotatably mounted in the support II as at i5 and has the end remote from the wheel threadably secured in a suitable projection I6, said projection extending upwardly from the base of support II. By turning the hand wheel I3, the tenon slide I2 is moved back and forth relative -to the framework IB and support II.

Upon the slide I2 a suitable table member il is mounted. This table member supports a hori-V zontally disposed plate member I8 by means of suitable bolts I9 and 20. Thebolts IS have the upper ends thereof secured to the bottom of plate I3 so that the intermediate portions will penetrate holes ISa in table member I l. Nuts Ib are threadably mounted on the lower ends of the bolts at points below the table member. The bolts 20 have the intermediate portions thereof threadably mounted in table member I'I so that the upper ends will support plate member I8 and hold nuts |91) against the lower side of the table I'I. 'I'he height of the plate member E3 may be adjusted by manipulating these bolts.

The top edge ofthe plate member I8 is adapted to rest against the bottom of a suitable ller member 2 I, which filler member is also carried by the table I'I. In other words, the right hand face of ller member 2| (Figure l) and the upper face of plate member I 8 rare disposed substantially at right angles to each other, thereby providing an Lshaped recess into which a suitable workpiece such as a bed post 23 is adapted to be placed.

By observing Figure 2, it will be seen that a suitable stop 24 is provided, near the left hand end of filler member 2|. This stop serves as a guide against which the ends of posts 23 are adapted to rest when placed in position on the table, thus insuring that each post will occupy the same position.

Referring to Figures and 11, it will be seen that post 23 is provided with a suitable longitudinal arcuate gap 21. This gap is adapted to have suitable holes 28 extending at right angles to the plane of the gap and being alined with each other. Usually these holes are of a slightly smaller diameter than the pins so as to insure that once a pin has been inserted, it cannot be easily removed. When the pins 29 are inserted in the holes 28 to a position where gap 21 will be bridged, suitable notches 30 in side rail plate 3| are adapted to removably iit over the pins. Plate 3| extends from a side rail 32 which forms a part Vof the bed structure.

.After the holes 28 and the gap 21 have been provided, the post 23 is positioned upon the table support I8 in the manner shown in Figures l, 2 and 9 so that one end thereof will abut the stop 24. When in the proper position, the holes 28 will be disposed opposite plungers 35, which plungers form an integral restricted portion of shafts 36. Each shaft 36 and its associated plunger 35 is mounted for reciprocation in a suitable block or bearing 31. The block 31 is provided with grooves 38, each ofv said grooves 38 being alined with a plunger 35 and being adapted to receive pins 29 during the operation of the machine. The plungers 35 and shaft 36 are reciprocated in a manner hereinafter to be described to cause the pin 29 (Figure 9) to be moved from the position shown, into the holes 28.in post 23. It should be noted that the pin 29 will be'moved far enough into the hole 28 to cause the same to abridge the gap or slot 21 thereby forming a lock pin over which notches 30 in side rail plate 3| are adapted to fit when the parts are in assembled position as shown in Figure 11.

Pin driving mechanism The plungers 35 and associated enlarged portions 36 are adapted to reciprocate in bores 39 in bearing block 31 (Figures 1, 2 and 9). The enlarged portions 36 are also mounted for recipro cation in another bearing 40, and the ends of both enlarged portions 36 are connected as at 4| to a link 42, said link 42 being pivotally secured as at 43 to a rotary disk 44. The point 43 is eccentrisegmental in shape, and being separated by suitable bolts 53 loosely extending from the inner ends of levers 64. Levers 64 are pivoted intermediate their ends as at 65 to opposed sides oi a hub 65, which hub is also keyed upon shaft 55. It will be noted that the shaft has a hub 58 slidably keyed thereon, said hub having a peripheral groove 69 therein, and also having a conical cam surface 19 on one of its ends. This conical surface is adapted. to be moved inwardly beneath the ends of levers 64 when it is desired to expand the shoes 62 against the inner periphery of drum 6|, and thereby connect the rotating shaft 55 with the loosely mounted wheel 52.

The means for manipulating the hub 68, inwardly and outwardly relative to the wheel 52, comprises a lever 15 having a forked end 16 fitting astride the grooves 69. Lever 15 is pivoted intermediate its ends as at 18 (Figures 2 and 5) to the framework ID. The other end of the lever 15 has pivoted thereto as at 19, a link 89 the other end of which is pivoted as at 8| to the vertical leg of a bell crank 82, said bell crank being pivoted as at 83 to framework |9. The horizontal leg of the bell crank has pivoted thereto as at 84, a vertically disposed link 85. This link extends downwardly and has pivotally connected to its lower end as at 86, an operating foot lever 81, said lever 81 extending beneath the machine and having one of its ends pivotally connected as at 88 to the framework I0.

Upon applying pressure to the free end of lever 81, the link 85 is pulled downwardly and bell crank 82 is thereby rotated in a counterclockwise manner in Figure 5. This movement will move the link 88 to the left in Figure 2, and rotate the lever 15 in a clockwise manner about pivot point 18 to cause the conical portion 19 to move inwardly toward the hub 55. The inward movement of the conical portion will expand the lefthand ends of levers 64, causing them to rotate about their respective pivot points to expand the shoes 62 against drum 6|. When the shoes are properly expanded the rotating hub 65 is connected to wheel 52 to impart movement to various elements of the machine.

If it is desired to cause the wheel 52 to be disconnected from the motor 89, it is necessary to release the foot pedal 31 to allow spring 81a to cally located relative to a shaft 45 upon which the Clutch mechanism In order to `connect the shaft 55 with the loose wheel 52, a suitable -clutch mechanism is provided. Wheel 52 has an annular drum 6| and the interior periphery of this drum has suitable shoes 62 contacting the same, said Vshoes being pull the same upwardly. The upward movement of the pedal will move the hub 68 outwardly, that is to the left in Figure 2, thereby relieving the pressure of shoes 62 on the interior periphery of drum 5|.

Pin stacking and feeding mechanism A pair of shafts 99 are rotatably mounted in bearing 31. The end of each shaft has xedly secured thereon a disk member 9| and the periphery of this disk has a groove 92 therein substantially of the same size as the diameter of a pin 29. 'I'he axes of rotation of shaft 99 and disk 9|, and the longitudinal axis of groove 92 are substantially parallel to the path of reciprocation of plunger 35. The shaft and disk, however, are off-set relative to the notch 38 (Figures 5 and 9). As the disk rotates, a pin 29 falls from a chute 93 into the groove 92. Upon further rotation of the disk, the pin 29 will be delivered to the notch 38 at a point in advance of the plunger 35. In other words, as disk 9| rotates in the direction of the arrow in Figure 9, the lowermost pin 29 in the chute 93 will fall into peripheral groove or notch 92. This pin will be carried around as the disk 9| rotates, and when the notch 92 begins to move downwardly the pin 29 will fall therefrom into the notch 38, after which the plunger 35 will move toward the observer in Figure 9 to press the pin 29 into hole`23 in the bed post 23. After the plunger 35 has moved the pin 29 into the proper position in hole 28, the direction of movement of the plunger is reversed, until it moves substantially to the position shown in Figure 9. At the same time, the disk 9| rotates again to a point where the groove 92 will receive the next lowermost pin 29 from the chute 93. The operation will again be repeated for the succeeding bed posts 23.

The upper portion of the chute 93 is nared outwardly as at 93u so that the pins 29 will more easily fall therein yas they are expelled from a suitable receptacle Se, through an opening 91. The function of the receptacle 99 and its associated parts will be later described.

Driving connection for disks 91 Each of the shafts 99 has a sprocket 9G on one end thereof. Upon these sprockets a suitable chain I9@ is mounted, said chain also being mounted upon other sprockets |92 and |03 on shaft |94 and pivot |95 respectively (Figures 2 and 3). The shaft |94 is rotatably mounted in bearing I I9, said bearing being supported by the framework lil. Shaft |94 also has xedly secured thereon a beveled gear which meshes with another beveled gear I I2 on a shaft I I4, said shaft I|4 being rotatably mounted in bearings II5 and II. The intermediate portion of shaft IIi has a sprocket ||1 fxedly secured thereon upon which a chain H8 is mounted, and this chain is also mounted upon another sprocket I I9 on shaft 45, previously described (Figures 1 and 4) As the shaft 45 rotates, to cause the pin driving plungers 35 to reciprocate back and forth, the sprocket H9, chain H3, sprocket II'I, shaft H4, bevelled gears III and |I2, shaft |04, chain |99, and sprockets 99, |92 and |03 are caused to rotate. This rotation will cause the shafts 99 and attached disks 9| to also rotate. It is therefore seen that the pin feeding mechanism is driven in timed relation to the pin driving mechanism because both the feeding and driving mechanisms are driven from shaft 45.

Oscillating pin receptacle By referring to Figures 1, 6, '1 and 8 it will be seen that the pin receptacle St is pivotally secured to the upper end of chutes 93 as at |25. This receptacle has a suitable cover |26 hingedly secured to the upper side thereof as at |21, the free end of which is held in closed position by a latch |28. In ordinary operation the headless pins 29 are dumped indiscriminately into the receptacle 9S, and then the cover is latched in closed position.

When the machine begins operation, the receptacle is oscillated back and forth about hinge point |25 from dotted line to bold line position in Figure 1. This movement will cause the headless pins to move endwise out of the receptacle through the openings 91 into chutes 93. The reason for the pins moving in such a manner into the chutes is due to the special bottom construction of the receptacle 96. The bottoms of the receptacle are V-shaped and are designated by the reference characters |39. The lower portion of each V-shaped bottom leads directly into an opening 91. The base of the bottom Vhas a suitable V-shaped angle member |3| xedly secured therein, which also leads to opening 91. It should be noted that the flanges of the angle member EBI rest upon the inwardly inclined bottom |39, thereby causing the upper edges of these flanges to serve as stops to prevent the pins on the inclined bottom |39 from crowding the pins which are disposed in the base of the V-shaped angle member |3|. By referring to Figure 6it is seen that the pins 29 fall in longitudinal alinement when disposed in the base of the angle member |3l. At the same time, the pins which rest on the inclined sidewalls of the bottom |39 abut the upper edges of the angle flanges and are prevented from crowding the alined pins in the angle member.

As the receptacle is rocked back and forth, the pins in the base of angle members ISI are fed endwise from the receptacle 96 through the openings 91 and into the chutes 93, where they fall in superposed position, that is, one upon the other. Each time the receptacle rocks to dotted line position one or more headless pins are fed from each angle |3| through an opening 91. The edges of angle members ISI serve to aline the pins as they travel towards the bottom of the angles i3! and on to the discharge position.

Means for oscillating receptacle 96 The free end of the receptacle 9S (Figure l) has pvoted thereto as at |35, a link |36, said link having its lower end pivoted as at |31 to one leg of a bell crank |39. The bell crank has a second link |39 pivoted to its other leg as at |49, which second link is pivoted as at |4| to an upstanding lever |42. Bell crank |38 is pivoted as at |3811 to framework I9. The lower end of the lever |42 is iixedly secured upon a shaft |43, which, in turn, is mounted for oscillation in bearings |44 and |45 on framework i9. Shaft |43 also has xedly secured thereon a downwardly extending lever |46 (Figure 4) the lower end of which is secured to link |41 as at |43. link |48 is pivotally secured as at |49 to Wheel 59. Since the point |49 is eccentrically located relative to the axis of rotation of wheel 59, it is seen that the link |41, arm |46 and shaft |43 will be oscillated back and forth as the wheel 50 rotates. This oscillation of the shaft |43 will produce oscillation of lever |42, link |39, bell crank |38, which in turn will oscillate the receptacle 9S about the pivot point |25. By providing an apparatus of this type, the headless rivets can be indiscriminately dumped into the receptacle 96 and as this receptacle oscillates, the pins will be expelled therefrom in alined position and caused to fall into the chutes 93 in a superposed position.

In the drawings and specification, there has been set forth a preferred embodiment of the invention, and although specicV terms are ernployed, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a machine for driving headless pins into members such as posts and the like, a rotary wheel mounted on a horizontal axis, said wheel having an open slot in its periphery, a pin reoeiving chute disposed above said wheel whereby the lowermost pin in the chute will fall sidewise into said slot upon each revolution of the wheel, and fall out of the slot when it reaches lowermost position, a pivoted receptacle for holding The other end of unalined headless pins, said receptacle having an opening therein through which pins are adapted to successively pass into said chute, means for oscillating said receptacle to cause the pins to pass through said opening and into said chute, said receptacle having a V-shaped bottom the lowermost portion of which is in alinement with the opening therein whereby the pins will be placed in parallel position prior to their emerging through the opening into the chute.

2. In a machine for driving headless pins into members such as posts and the like, a rotary wheel, said wheel having an open slot in its pe' riphery, a pin receiving chute disposed above said wheel whereby the lowermost pin in the chute will fall into said slot upon each revolution of the wheel, and fall out of the slot when it reaches its lowermost position, a receptacle for holding unalined headless pins and being pivoted at its end near the chute, said receptacle having an opening therein through which pins are adapted to successively pass into said chute, means for oscillating said receptacle to cause the pins to pass through said opening and into said chute, said pivoted receptacle having a V-shaped bottom, an angle iron member secured in the lowermost portion of the V-shaped bottom and conforming with the angularity of the bottom, whereby the pins will be straightened by coming in contact with the edges of the angle iron and will then move into the lowermost portion of angle iron member prior to their emerging from said opening.

3. In a machine for driving headless pins into members such as posts and the like, means for automatically positioning a headless pin endwise at a point in the machine, a pin receiving chute disposed above said positioning means, means for selecting the lowermost pin from said chute, a pivoted receptacle having an opening therein through which pins are adapted to successively pass into said chute, means for oscillating said receptacle to cause the pins to pass. through said opening into said chute, said pivoted receptacle having a V-shaped bottom, an angle iron member secured in the lowermost portion of the V-shaped bottom and conforming with the angularity of the bottom, whereby the pins will be straightened by coming in contact with the edges of the angle iron member and will then move into the lowermost portion of angle iron member prior to emerging from said opening.

4. Feeding mechanism for pin driving machines comprising a chute, a hopper pivoted to the upper end of said chute and having an opening therein substantially coinciding with the chute, said hopper being adapted to receive unalined headless pins, and means for oscillating said hopper about its pivot to thereby cause pins to slide from the hopper through said opening and into superposed alinement positioned within the chute, said hopper having a V-shaped bottom provided with an angle iron member in the lowermost portion of the V-shaped bottom and extending to said opening, whereby oscillation of the hopper will cause the pins to strike against the edge of the angle iron member to aline the same prior to their moving into the lowermost position of the angle iron member.

5. In a device for alining pins, a hopper having its bottom inclined inwardly and downwardly from the lower edge of each sidewall, thereby forming a V-shaped groove in said bottom, one of the endwalls having an opening coinciding with the bottom of the V-shaped groove and being of a size to allow only one pin at a time to pass therethrough, said hopper being adapted to have a mass of unalined pins dumped therein, said hopper being pivoted intermediate its ends. means for oscillating said hopper to aline the pins in the V-shaped bottom and to expel the alined pins from said hopper through said opening in one end of the hopper, the V-shaped groove having an angle iron in the same conforming to the bottom of the hopper and against the edges of which the pins will strike and become alined during oscillation of the hopper.

ELBERT B. HUBBARD. 

